They watch as Darren Frost disappears around the corner. Matisse and Rhubarb are finished pissing and so they follow. They stop by the bomb he has already planted. They listen to it ticking. They slip to the end of the building and look around the corner. Darren Frost is hiding another bomb, this one between the Rhododendrons planted two Arbor Days ago by Jamie Vanderpike’s kindergarten class.
Howie Dornick and Katherine Hardihood are not happy about this bomb thing. They frown at each other and search each other’s eyes. Of course they should stop Darren Frost from doing this. Howie could tackle that cupcake and punch and kick it until the idiot inside tells him how to stop those pipes from ticking. Katherine could yell and scream and maybe throw a rock through a window so the burglar alarm goes off.
These are the things they could do. These are the things they should do. Right this second they should do these things. But they know what happens to people who stop idiots from blowing off bombs. They become the same thing soldiers who save Seabees become. They become heroes. And heroes become public property, like storm sewers and parking meters and rumors. Heroes are forced to ride on floats in parades. Their eyes agree that they do not want to be heroes.
But sneaking away is a cowardly thing. Artie Brown not only remained on the bank of the Matanikau shooting and shooting at those advancing Japanese, he advanced on them, driving that Seabee bulldozer right onto that flimsy bridge.
So it comes to this: Do they sneak forward and become heroes? Or do they sneak away and become cowards? Finding Darren Frost hiding his pipe bombs is anything but serendipitous.
Why doesn’t Matisse bark? Why doesn’t Rhubarb yowl? Let them be the heroes.
The Marching Wildcat Band of West Wyssock High is playing “Turkey in the Straw” and in just a minute the Singing Doves will begin their medley of “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain,” the famous Shaker hymn “Tis The Gift to Be Simple,” and Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country.” And then there will be an explosion of fake fire and smoke and Princess Pogawedka will rise above the stumps. Some in the crowd will gasp. Others will applaud and cheer. Howie Dornick and Katherine Hardihood know that any second now they will have to decide. Let it happen or stop it from happening. Their eyes weigh the pros and cons. Their eyes test each other’s conscience. Each other’s soul. Either they will have to sneak forward or sneak away.
Then Katherine Hardihood whispers: “Jiminy Cricket, Howard.”
And so Howie Dornick lets go of Matisse’s leash and sneaks forward on all-fours, toward the huge cupcake fiddling with a bomb by the library wall.
And when he has the cupcake firmly by the ankles, and the cupcake is swearing and flopping, Katherine Hardihood starts yelling “Fire-fire-fire!”
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2000 by Rob Levandoski
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1196-9
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